I suffer from horsepower envy. Not so many moons ago I felt fairly well-endowed and quite happy with my Malossi PX 210 kicking out around 20bhp. These days 30bhp is becoming a fairly regular power output for a tuned scooter but it’s obviously not enough for everybody. There’s always somebody out there to kick sand in your face and start bragging about their larger weapon. That person at the minute is Italian tuning house, BFA (formerly BSG) who have teamed up with SIP to make sure their 55bhp Vespa 306 engine is available to those who ‘need’ that kind of power.
SIP BFA 306cc
BSG have undergone a few changes over the last couple of years, changing the business name to BFA is just one of them. The men behind BFA, Ale and Fabio’s true passion is in the Vespa Smallframe and for a small business things were moving faster than they could cope with alone. It would be a travesty for the Vespa BFA 306 to end up being shelved like the Lambretta BSG 305 and a few other projects. That’s why SIP have taken on the project, making it more readily available.
Torque ain’t cheap
In the world of scooters you’re talking exclusivity on a grand scale when you buy a BFA 306 engine. Getting this kind of power in a PX-sized package built on a small scale is never going to be cheap. Ralf at SIP told us “Years ago, we were contacted by Ale and Fabio from Parma, Italy, who told us that they were fiddling around on a 306cc engine for the Vespa PX. At that time, it was still under the name BSG. Nevertheless, we were not half astonished when the first 306cc parts arrived at our premises in spring 2018. We are used to quite a lot here at SIP Scootershop, as parts and ideas arrive weekly from the world scene. However, the 306cc parts led internally here to a level of excitement reminiscent of Christmas gift giving. The engine case, along with the crankshaft and the cylinder, promises to fulfil all tuner dreams at once. High performance, sporty touring or simply more fun on the daily route to work and being able to sleep for 10 minutes longer.”
70bhp Vespa?
Jesco developed a sprint scooter for the Tacho Karacho 2018 race, using the BFA 306 engine. The engine was soon put together and after some initial setting up on the dyno it was making 55bhp at the rear wheel. It also had a frightening amount of torque, was super smooth and had a very wide power band. More work is planned on the sprinter over winter to explore the boundaries even further. According to SIP, the 50bhp barrier can be broken with what is close to a ‘Plug ‘n play’ engine. Ralf also plans to push the boundaries even further, 70bhp anybody? “We hope to scrape the 70 hp mark with the engine. Additionally, we believe that, with the setup, it is also possible to develop a Vespa engine that is suitable for touring, only with 40-50 hp and more”.
How much and where from?
The choice for high-performance Vespa riders is expanding all the time with various casings and exotic components coming out all the time. Even so, the BFA 306 is King Dong when it comes to fast ‘off the shelf’ engines. The casings themselves can also be used as an upgrade from your standard Vespa casings, they’re also suitable for various cylinder kits and the transfers are already matched to the Malossi MHR cylinder.
Exotica like this doesn’t come cheap so sit down if you’re of a nervous disposition but some of the BSF parts list is printed below…
Engine casings start around £1400
BFA 306 cylinder kit £1395
BFA clutch kit £652
Exhaust £586
Full circle crank £849
Click the following link for all the BFA – SIP tuning parts
New products always in development…
Still way cheaper than a Casa Lammy engine though